Fliegl trough turns Volvo Dumper into an efficient mining vehicle

Special places need special vehicles. The Zielitz Potash Mine near Magdeburg is definitely a special place – it is one of the largest potash works in the world, a world of its own deep underground with a mining area of almost 200 km². The special vehicle, especially conceived for the extreme requirements of functioning in a mine3 700 metres below sea level, works with push-off technology from Fliegl.

The basis for the custom design is a Volvo Dumper A25F, which has been fitted with a Fliegl ASW Stone push-off trough; it has a payload capacity of 24 tonnes. In order to bring the push-off dumper to its destination deep underground, it was disassembled into three parts, transported underground using a shaft and once there reassembled. It was used in the mine for very specialized tasks: The company K+S Kali does not just require 12 million tonnes of raw salt per year, but also maintains a further line of business as an underground disposal facility. Each year, in an area of 12 km² about 90,000 tonnes of industrial waste is placed in underground chambers and covered with a 1 meter thick layer of salt. It is the job of the dumpers to transport the extracted salt, used for the covering, to the storage chambers.

A task that sounds simpler than it is. Working in a dusty, gloomy environment in temperatures of about 24°C means extreme conditions for men and machine; inside the disposal area increases of up to 28 percent must be to overcome.

Photo by Fliegl Agrartechnik Gmbh

The dumper is loaded with a wheel loader. With each tour it transports 24 tonnes of salt from the delivery area to the storage chambers – an amount which earlier required the deployment of two vehicles. 24 tonnes of salt are unloaded in about 24 seconds. The transport goes so fast that the dumpers fitted with the push-off troughs achive a time saving of 50 percent. An additional ad-vantage: The ceiling height is of no consequence when pushing-off, as opposed to dumping; the dumpers cannot function in mine areas with heights of less than 5 m. Inclines and uneven terrain are also no problem, the ASW-Dumper is stable and eliminates the danger of tipping. Pushing-off is always even and controlled.

The Zielitz Potash Works shows: Fliegl push-off technology makes heavy goods transport easy, fast and efficient, even in extreme places and under extreme conditions.

For further information visit www.fliegl.com